Former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry met Saturday with Syria's president and said he was hopeful that strained U.S.-Syrian relations could be improved, provided Washington seized "a moment of opportunity" currently available in the Middle East.

The United States has accused Syria of doing too little to stop insurgents from infiltrating into Iraq to attack coalition forces. Washington also has imposed sanctions on Damascus, accusing it of seeking weapons of mass destruction and hosting Palestinian groups Washington deems to be terrorist organizations.

Syria denies the accusations but says it cannot fully control its long, porous border with Iraq.

Sen. Kerry, D-Mass., met for two hours with President Bashar Assad and then with Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa, with both meetings centering on Iraq and how to prevent militants from moving from Syria into neighboring Iraq.

"I think we found a great deal of areas of mutual interest, some common concerns and some possibilities for initiatives that could be taken in the future to strengthening the relationship between the U.S. and Syria," Kerry told reporters after meeting with al-Sharaa.

"I leave here with a sense that we can improve our relationship. There are significant possibilities, particularly with the elections in Iraq and the elections in the West Bank ... This is the moment of opportunity for the Middle East, for the U.S. and for the world. I hope that we would seize that opportunity."

Assad stressed "the importance of dialogue between the two sides over all issues under discussion, especially those of common interest," Syria's official news agency reported.

Kerry said he and Assad discussed Iraq, security, Lebanon and weapons of mass destruction.

In September, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution calling on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and dismantle the Syrian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group. Syria, with some 14,000 troops stationed in Lebanon, is the main power broker in that country.

More recently, President Bush has warned Syria and Iran against "meddling" in the internal affairs of Iraq. Washington and Baghdad both have said that key support for the insurgency in Iraq was coming from a half brother of Saddam Hussein and Baath Party leaders based in Syria.

Kerry, who is on a two-week tour of the Middle East, arrived Friday from Iraq, where he met U.S. troops in the volatile northern city of Mosul, the scene of a suicide bombing last month on a military base that killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. soldiers and three American contractors.

Kerry, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will be in the West Bank for Sunday's Palestinian election and is expected to visit a polling place.

After Kerry left the Foreign Ministry on Saturday, 13-year-old Mustafa al-Nabulsi approached him with a drawing of the senator as a soldier in his Vietnam days.

"You have made me much more important than I was, though. You made me a general," Kerry said.

Was this visit something the administration was aware of and approved?

"The United States has accused Syria of doing too little to stop insurgents from infiltrating into Iraq to attack coalition forces. Syria denies the accusations but says it cannot fully control its long, porous border with Iraq

The United States accuses another country of DOING TO LITTLE to stop insurgents? What has our country done to stop illegal insurgents from entering OUR COUNTRY?

After Kerry left the Foreign Ministry on Saturday, 13-year-old Mustafa al-Nabulsi approached him with a drawing of the senator as a soldier in his Vietnam days."You have made me much more important than I was, though. You made me a general," Kerry said."I wish you were the president," al-Nabulsi said."Thank you very much. So do I," Kerry said.

A 13 year old budding suicide bomber wishes Kerry were president. Isn't that touching?

Kerry meeting with any of our enemies, considering his actions of the 70's is scary.

You are 100% correct. This guy should be barred from meeting any foreign leaders, especially from countries like Syria. Given his 1970's, 1980's, and even his recent actions, I think he should be barred from coming back unless he faces trial for treasonous activity. Leave the foreign policy to the professionals in charge Mr. Kerry. Go live in your foreign houses and don't come back.

I don't approve of unlimited illegal immigration either. But there's a difference between coming into the U.S. to get a job and coming into Iraq to blow people up.

Yes, there's a big danger that terrorists may be among the other immigrants. But they haven't started blowing people up--at least not yet.

The more important consideration is that it was a bipartisan, patriotic consensus that "politics stops at the edge of the water." We were reminded of that not long ago when a few Republicans ventured to criticize clinton for bombing aspirin factories in order to take the spotlight off of Monica. But the Democrats completely ignore that rule, with the complicity of the MSM. Senator or not, kerry has no business interfering in delicate foreign policy and national security matters like this, without clearance from the President and/or the State Department.

Another example of Kerry still acting like he is the president. I wonder what all he really said to the Syrian President? Will we see his picture hanging up in some Middle East war museum similar to the one hanging up in Hanoi?

Why can't we patrol the border with all the spy-in-the-sky stuff and anyone crossing the border will be shot. No questions asked. Soon we will find that gap hurt, maybe not totally shut but somewhat stopped.

"I leave here with a sense that we can improve our relationship. There are significant possibilities, particularly with the elections in Iraq and the elections in the West Bank ... This is the moment of opportunity for the Middle East, for the U.S. and for the world. I hope that we would seize that opportunity."

Kerry is still giving his 'how to say nothing in 500 words or more' speeches.

After Kerry left the Foreign Ministry on Saturday, 13-year-old Mustafa al-Nabulsi approached him with a drawing of the senator as a soldier in his Vietnam days.

"You have made me much more important than I was, though. You made me a general," Kerry said.

"I wish you were the president," al-Nabulsi said.

"Thank you very much. So do I," Kerry said.

Yeh, right. [If this exchange really took place without being set up either by team Kerry or complicit reporters, I'll eat my monitor (figuratively, I ain't that stupid---it's an older 17-inch-tube-type! :) ]

Well, heck, he's gotta make these obligatory side trips to get the American taxpayer to pay for what is probably just another of his many vacations. The man is a pampered elitist who falls back exhausted for a week for every single day of "work."

Since when does a Senator conduct unilateral foreign policy? This A-hole is repeating his actions after VietNam when he went to Paris to "negotiate" with the North VietNamese while the war was going on!

John Kerry needs to be expelled with prejudice from the United States Senate. Just as he was from the military.

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.